Kunde Family Estate - Nice Whites, Unimpressive Reds

After visiting the B.R. Cohn winery with our Sonoma hosts in October, we drove 5 miles north down Sonoma Highway to the Kunde Family Estate (http://www.kunde.com/welcome), the last of 13 wineries we visited in Sonoma County, prior to heading to the Napa Valley.

Kunde is another example of a winery that has been in the same family for a long time. The estate was established in 1904 by Louis Kunde, a German immigrant who purchased Wildwood Vineyards. In 1977, the Kundes expanded their property by purchasing the neighboring 850-acre Kinneybrook Ranch. The estate is now operated by the 4^th and 5^th generations of the family.

In 1879, 25 years prior to being purchased by Kunde, vineyards were first established on the property with cuttings from Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite Rothschild, both of whose wines are classified as Premier Grand Cru wines. They are both in the Médoc area  of the Gironde Department of France, where Bordeaux wines are produced.

The tasting room was very pleasant and the woman who served us was very helpful and informative. Just outside the tasting room is a a pretty pond with three fountains. There is a patio with tables and chairs overlooking the pond.

 Pond Outside the Tasting Room

The Kunde wine tasting menu had seven wines - three whites and four reds. The normal tasting fee is $10. However, we were not charged because we had Visa Signature credit cards. We tried two of the white wines and three of the reds. The whites were very nice, but the reds were unimpressive. We were served Kunde Sea Salt Chocolates with the last red. They were fantastic. The prices below are without the wine club discount:

- 2010 Magnolia Lane Sauvignon Blanc - very nice - $15

- 2010 Gewurtztraminer - very nice - $15

- 2007 Zinfandel - nice - $18

- 2007 Merlot - decent - $24

- 2007 Dunfillan Cuvée, 52% Syrah, 48% Cabernet Sauvignon - drinkable - $35

Just prior to our trip to California, we'd tried a Kunde Chardonnay at a wine club dinner. It was very nice like the two whites we tried at the Kunde tasting room. My wife and I are not normally fond of whites, so it's interesting to me that we like all three of their whites that we've tried, and would not buy any of their reds after our tasting at the winery.